The Dreamers
by Timmi Mae
Summary: Just because you aren't the heroes anymore doesn't mean you can't dream.
1. Prologue

**A/N: Not that long ago I had a random thought of "What if the Ancestors had dream-selves too?" And then this happened. Big shout out to my Moirail .com for reading over this for me. **

Meulin curled up in the shadows, trying to avoid the bright sunlight shining in through the cracks of the cave walls. It was hard to believe the sun was already out again as it hadn't felt like that long had passed since the setting sun provided the red backdrop to the worst day of her life. Her body ached and she grew more and more aware of just how alone she was. She hadn't been alone since she was a wriggler living on her own in the forest just trying to survive without her lusus.

She hugged Kankri's pants close. She couldn't quite remember _how_ she got a hold of his pants, everything happened too fast. She _could_ remember somehow breaking free after seeing him fall still. The first thing she did was run to him and give him one final kiss.

It was her turn to die next; she stared down the bow of the E%ecutioner, practically daring him to shoot. To her surprise (and just maybe slight dismay) he lowered his bow, refusing to kill her. She hesitated to run at first, but after a moment she ran as fast as her legs would carry her, eventually finding her way to the cave she resided in now.

She looked down at the bloody pants in her hands. They were the only thing left that showed he ever existed. There had been journals she kept that documented every speech and every vision he told her. Unfortunately though, they had all been taken from her. The Empire took them and burned them and Meulin knew they would do so to all other evidence of his life they could find.

Looking around at the cave walls she knew she had been given her life for a reason. She was going to carry on the fight. There were still trolls out there suffering and someone had to put a stop to it. Just because he was dead did not mean Kankri had failed. He started something that Meulin refused to let die out. He sparked a revolution that cost him his life and she would not let that cost have gone in vain.

* * *

The room was loud, so many young trolls being sold to sea-dwellers and some other highbloods. Porrim hung her head, she couldn't care about anything happening around her, not even the violet blooded sea-dweller who had already taken an interest in buying her. She had promised to protect that little red grub she found in the caverns 15 sweeps ago. She promised she wouldn't let anyone hurt him and she had failed. It wasn't just him though, it was all three of them. The three people who mattered most.

She had raised Kankri since grubhood, he was always so passionate about making a difference in the world and almost seemed to take the burden of the universe upon his shoulders. He didn't deserve to die that way, no one does but least of all him.

Meulin had joined them one day when Kankri brought her home from the forest. She was such a bright girl. Her lusus had died when she was still just a wriggler but she was always smiling and had a big heart. She was all alone now, left to deal with her grief with no one to comfort her.

The three of them had saved Mituna from slavery. He could be hard on himself but was always there for everyone. They promised to keep him from ever being a slave again, They may have succeeded for a time, but in the end he was right back in the service of The Empire, and as a Helmsman no less.

* * *

Mituna hated the Condesce already. There was nothing more rage inducing than the way she laughed and mocked him as her servants hooked him up to the ship. God, he wanted out so badly.

He thought about Latula, she'd sworn up and down she would stop the execution, but unfortunately the night came and went with no sign of her. He swore if anything happened to his matesprit he would somehow break free from his new hell and make everyone who hurt her regret the day they were hatched.

* * *

Latula was pissed to no end. They must be on to her, there was no other explanation. Her superiors told her the exact time of the execution, she even wrote it down so she would know her time limit to stop it, but lo and behold, the date was wrong. By the time she got there, there was no one to be found.

She poured over the maps of the area, all sprawled out on her desk. She was told Meulin was allowed to escape and one bystander even told her the direction they saw her run off to. She couldn't have made it far. Somewhere in these woods Meulin was hiding and Latula was going to find her. Perhaps the two of them could still do some good for Alternia. She had promised to help and she wasn't going to let them down.

* * *

Skaia shone down brightly over the golden towers. The clouds were projecting so many visions at once that Kankri wasn't sure which ones he should be focusing on. A few stuck with him, but there was something much more pressing on his mind than the oracle clouds. He just couldn't understand, he was supposed to be dead.


	2. The First 3 days

The golden city wasn't exactly a new sight to Kankri. He'd seen it before in his vision as well as having woken up here before. That's how he'd known about his descendant and how he would play the same game he had played in the alternate life he still couldn't quite make sense of. This was different though, he was sure he had died, he didn't know how he couldn't have. He should be wherever the dead go, unless... he could remember some visions where one of the members of the group died, and another member kissed them and just like that they woke up on one of the moons. What was this one called? Prospit? Yes that was it. The kiss thing certainly was one theory, but who would've kissed him? Did Meulin kiss him? How could she have known? Did she even know?

There were too many questions that he felt might never be answered. He didn't have time to dwell on them, he needed to figure out a way back to Alternia.

Setting his sights on one of the other towers, he moved quickly through the gold lined streets. It was very different to wake up here as himself, rather than in his visions. He swore that in the visions he would wake up at the top of the towers, while waking up for real he was at the base. He hoped his visions where there were others in the towers was still the same.

He peeked into the window of the first one he came to. Inside a large male troll was sleeping in the middle of the floor. Kankri guessed he was probably a purple blood and looking at his horns… is that… is that The Grand Highblood?

Kankri scooted away from the window.

Trying again, he went to the next tower, with much better results. There in the middle of the floor was a sleeping Latula. She could help him, if only there was a way to wake her up.

"Excuse me." Kankri stopped a Prospitian walking by carrying a bowl of water. "Do you mind if I borrow that?"

The Prospitian gave him a funny look but relinquished the water. Kankri took it and slipped into the tower.

"What the-!?" Latula shrieked as he dumped the water on her.

"Latula!"

"Kankri?" She squinted as if her eyes were playing tricks on her. "But you're- how?"

"I… I don't really know to be completely honest." He replied.

"Where are we?" She stood up and wrung out her hair, taking in the new surroundings.

"I think it's called Prospit." He answered.

"You think?" She raised her eyebrows at him.

He simply nodded.

"Well, how did we get here?" She asked. "I was just in my office! Did I just poof out of it?"

"I believe you would be asleep in your office." Kankri offered.

"So this is a dream?" She continued questioning.

"Well… yes- er no." He racked his brains trying to think of a way to explain the little he knew. "I don't really know what it is well enough to explain it."

"Well, can I go back? I was looking for Meulin." Kankri perked up at the mention of Meulin.

"Meulin?" She was supposed to have died along with him. "Is she okay?"

"I think so." Latula threw her wet hair over her shoulder. "The E%ecutioner let her go." She leaned against the wall and crossed her arms. "She ran off and now I'm trying to find her. Maybe we can still do some good together."

"I… I think I just saw her in the clouds actually." He said.

"The what now?" She asked, annoyance colored her tone making it obvious she was getting tired of having to ask so many questions.

"Again, I don't know well enough to explain it!" It was starting to get frustrating that he couldn't think of anyway to explain things. "But I think I know where she is."

"You're going to tell me right?" Latula stood up straight.

"Of course I will." He replied.

* * *

Kankri's directions were perfect, they lead Latula right to the kitty cat in question in less than a day. Latula slipped into the cave carefully, she wasn't sure what mental state Meulin would be in. She was sure to be grieving and quite possibly on high alert. Latula didn't want to spook her or cause her more pain in any way.

The first thing she noticed upon making it inside was the magnificent paintings on the walls, depicting high and lowbloods alike getting along. It took a moment for her to tear herself away from the paintings to find Meulin.

"Meulin?" She said gently.

"Latula?" Meulin jumped and turn towards her. She was covered in paint and obviously hadn't been taking care of herself the past couple of days.

"It looks like you've been busy here…" Latula gestured to the walls unsure of where else to start.

"Yeah, kinda…" She spoke quietly. Being all alone in her mourning had not served her well.

"Are these from Kankri's speeches?" Latula continued trying to get her to talk to her.

"From what I remember yes." She perked up a little, looking a bit proud of herself. "They burned all of my books."

"Wow, That's really…" Latula thought for a moment thinking of the right word. "Impressive."

"I just don't want any of what happened to have been in vain." She got a fiery look in her eyes. She was a mighty huntress, no one destroyed everything the mighty huntress had worked for and got away with it.

"Yeah…" Latula looked down. "I'm sorry I couldn't help you guys."

"Don't be. It wasn't your fault." Her voice grew quiet again. "To be completely honest I don't think there was much you could have done anyway."

"They told me the wrong time." She continued anyway. "I was so stupid to think they actually wouldn't get suspicious of me." Meulin didn't say anything. "But… maybe we can still do some good, Meu!"

"What do you mean?" She seemed to perk up again.

"We can still fight! Just because Kankri is dead doesn't mean the fight is!" Latula grinned at her.

"You're right." Meulin grinned right back at her.

"Hellz yeah I'm right, girl!" She replied.

"Can I ask you a question first though, Latula?" Meulin frowned slightly.

"Shoot."

"How did you find me?" She seemed concerned, rightfully so too, had someone other than Latula found her they might have killed her or turned her into the authorities.

"Well…" She rubbed the back of her head. She wasn't quite sure what to tell her, she still didn't know what exactly that dream was and the last thing she wanted to do was to give her a false hope. "It's hard to explain."

Meulin tilted her head at her. She could obviously tell something was up, but she must have decided not to question her.

"Here how about we talk about this more tomorrow?" Latula changed the subject. "I need to find a place to sleep."

"You're welcome to stay here." Meulin offered.

"No offense, Meu." She shook her head. "But I can't do the sleeping in caves thing like you guys do- er did…"

"Well, I think there's an inn in the town nearby." Meulin chuckled. "But I'll have to stay here, I don't think I should risk going out into town yet. The high-bloods are probably still on high alert looking for me."

"You're probably right." Latula yawned. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Sleep tight!" Meulin waved to her as she left the cave.

* * *

Latula stepped out of the inn and ran her fingers through her hair. The sun had just sunk below the horizon and she figured now was as good a time as any to get back to the cave. There were murmurs coming from the few trolls already awake. They seemed to be crowded around something. Latula's curiosity got the better of her and she moved closer to the wall they were all staring at.

She couldn't keep herself from gasping upon seeing the wall. Words were gratified all over it in a bright red. They recounted one of the Kankri's speeches. Whoever did this was incredibly brave, if anyone was caught writing anything about The Signless even in personal journals they could be culled on the spot, let alone if they were caught grafiting it in a public place where many could see it.

Latula slowly started heading back for the cave, but something told her Meulin wasn't going to be there.

* * *

Kankri wandered through the Prospitian streets. He needed to find a way back to Alternia, he wasn't sure where he would find one but he just knew there had to be a way. As he passed one of the towers he peeked inside. He recognized the snoozing Mustard blood in an instant. He smiled at his friend, if only there was a way to wake him up. Unlike with Latula, there were no convenient Prospitians with water walking by.

He found a rock on the ground and picked it up, hopefully he wouldn't hit him too hard.

"OW!" Mituna yelped as the rock unfortunately hit him a lot harder than he had wanted it to. "What the hell?" Mituna looked up at him and blinked a few times. "Kankri?"

"Mituna!" Kankri smiled.

"Ith thith a dream?" Mituna said quickly. "You're dead! There'th no other explanation!"

"Look, trust me I know how weird this is." Kankri spoke calmly hoping to relieve his confusion. "I can't really tell you much besides the fact that we are on a place called Prospit right now, and that I need your help to get back to Alternia."

"Okay… so this isn't a dream?" His lisp seemed to become less obvious as he calmed down.

"Like I said, I can't really explain it right now." His visions never made much sense to him anyway and it almost seemed to have gotten worse since it became his reality.

"Well, where is this place in relation to Alternia?" Mituna asked.

"I don't know…" He replied.

"Yes, very helpful." Kankri just knew if Mituna had had pupils he would have been rolling them.

"Come on, I'm sure if we looked around we'd find something." Kankri sighed.

"I don't know…" Mituna looked around. "I guess so maybe, it's got to be better than going back to that helmsman job."

"Right." Kankri gestured towards the streets. "We should get going there's a lot of ground to cover."

* * *

Meulin felt bad about leaving without saying anything to Latula. Hopefully she wasn't too mad at her. She hadn't planned on leaving in the middle of the day like that, but Latula gave her an idea and it just wouldn't let her sleep. They might not have wanted to listen, but she was going to force them to.

So, she decided to make herself more anonymous so she wouldn't be recognized. She wasn't going to wear her sign or her blood color, both things that could be used to identify her. She took Kankri's pants and made a few alterations so they'd fit her. She was so short she ended up just ripping out the legs and making it into a tunic. She then tied a couple of red ribbons around her wrists, the followers had been using red ribbons for a while to identify each other, they stopped doing it so much due to wearing red things becoming a fashion trend among higher-bloods without them really knowing where it came from. After huddling under one of her animal pelts she was good to go, it was going to be bright but as long as she stayed covered and didn't look into the sun she knew she'd be okay.

After the sun set she heard murmurs from her hiding spot about some of the followers meeting in an underground crypt. She tracked down the meeting place and made her way silently down the cold steps. She was going to make sure they didn't lose their hope.


	3. Finding Friends

"These are rust blood clothes." Kankri inspected the clothes Mituna had just dumped in his lap. "They have a sign on them too."

"Well, yeah." Mituna said as if it was obvious. "We're trying to blend in, when you walk around without a blood color or a sign you stick out a little more."

"That's true…" Kankri eyed the sign nervously. He didn't think he was comfortable running around with another troll's sign.

"Look, the sign isn't even a rust blood sign." Mituna tried to reassure him. "It's an olive blood sign but nobody's going to be able to tell unless they are looking at it closely."

"Really?" It did make sense that it was an olive blood sign, it reminded him of Meulin's.

"Yeah, I think it's related to Meulin's sign too." Mituna confirmed. "Sign of Leonis I think."

"What about for you?" Kankri pointed at Mituna's new clothes. After finding a transportalizer to Alternia they quickly realized that the rags that they had been wearing on Prospit would cause them to stick out like a sore thumb. They had decided that Mituna would go and buy them both clothes as he was a mustard blood and could possibly pass them off as his normal clothes.

"I thought it'd be a bad idea to use my own sign, in case someone recognized it." Mituna frowned a little at the new sign donning his mustard suit. "This one's related to my sign too, Sign of Cathtor." He let out a frustrated groan. "Ca_sssss_tor." He pushed out the 's' rather dramatically.

"Well," Kankri couldn't help but chuckle. "I'm glad you thought of all that."

"You wouldn't survive without me." Mituna grinned cockliy for a moment before dropping it. "Oh yeah! I saw something interesting in town."

"Oh?" Kankri looked at him, his interest piqued.

"Apparently there's some troll going around writing your speeches and shit on buildings." Mituna explained. "They've already hit this town. I saw the writing, it was pretty impressive."

"Wow." Kankri smiled slightly. "I'm glad there are still trolls out there who believe the fight is worth it."

"Yeah well, it has only been 3 days since you 'died'." Mituna pointed out. "Anyway, you said you know where Meulin is?"

"Yes, well, I think so at least." Kankri thought for a moment, there was always the possibility they had already left. "It's not far from here, and Latula should be with her too. We'll join up with them and track down Mother."

"Latula?" Mituna seemed to perk up at the mention of his matesprit. "Well then, what are we waiting for?"

All of the trolls that could be crammed into the crypt focused their attentions on the olive blood. Meulin was starting to wonder how Kankri had dealt with having so many eyes on him. They were quick to believe she was the Disciple and were now looking at her expectantly. She hadn't thought this through very well and needed to think of something quick. It broke her heart to see how many of them had something broken in them, they had all seen the worst of troll kind and it was no wonder they listened to the man who saw the best of it. She could also see a fire burning brightly within each of them, it gave her life to see so many trolls who couldn't be knocked down.

"I know things seem bad right now." She began unsure of where she was going. "The high-bloods are on high alert, trying to knock out any leftover revolutions. Trying to silence everyone."

A few of their faces dropped, there was no doubt about how terrified they were of the high-bloods culling them.

"But things are not over." she continued. "The Signless meant a lot to all of us, but his death means the end of nothing." She looked around at each one of them. "Don't let them silence you."

Mituna and Kankri made their way through the forest. They'd been walking for a while now and Mituna was starting to wonder whether Kankri actually did know where Meulin was or not.

"There!" Kankri stopped and pointed out a cave.

"Meulin's in there?" He asked.

"She should be." Kankri replied.

A figure emerged from the mouth of the cave. It was obviously female, but too tall and slender to be the female they were looking for. Though, not necessarily one they didn't want to see either.

"Tulip!" Mituna exclaimed. He ran to her in the blink of an eye. He tried to lift her in the air as he hugged her, only succeeding in losing his balance, sending both of them tumbling to the ground.

"Mituna!? What are you doing here?" She placed a hand on his face "Did you escape from the Condencse?"

"I'm sure you know all about the Prospit shenanigans by now." He smiled happily at her.

"Right right, Prospit." She nodded. "It makes more sense not to question it." She got up off the ground and looked between the two of them. "I guess you're here looking for Meu?"

"Is she not here?" Kankri asked her worry coating his voice.

"Well…" Latula rubbed the back of her head. "She was." She looked at Kankri and frowned. "I think we kind of got separated."

"Oh…" Kankri's faced dropped.

"Well, I'm sure we'll find her soon." Mituna tried to reassure him.

"Yeah, Tuna's right." Latula frowned slightly. "I am a little worried, though. She seemed like a mess when I saw her." She tried to smile reassuringly. "But I promise I'll keep a close eye out for her. I'm sure you've heard of the person going around writing on walls, right?"

"Yes." Kankri swallowed, Latula admitting she was worried about Meulin hadn't helped him in the slightest. "We have."

"I'm pretty sure it's her doing that." She grinned that shit-eating grin that Mituna couldn't help but fall in love with. "All we have to do is follow the news of that and it should lead us to her."

"See? We'll find her in no time." Mituna pointed out, but Kankri continued frowning.

"As long as _we_ find her first." He said simply.

"Do you see this, Damara?" Doc Scratch pointed to a picture in the book he had open in front of him. Damara didn't really care but knew she had no choice but to humor the bastard. "Isn't it cute how they think they can change anything?"

Damara looked at the pictures on the page that he had open. There were the people he had told her were once her friends. They were talking to large groups of people, rising up and fighting against those who have oppressed them. She swore if it weren't for the stupid timeline requiring her to put up with this bullshit then she would do the same.

"It's too bad they won't last much longer isn't it?" Doc scratch laughed a little. Damara looked back down at the pictures. She didn't like where this was going.

Meulin admired her new pendant. It was as grey as cold irons and shaped just like the chains they had bound Kankri with. She still wasn't exactly sure how she felt about that, but a lot of the followers had started adopting it as a way to identify themselves as such. She guessed it was more distinguishable than just wearing red.

She looked around, she hadn't ever really been around here before and didn't know where to go next. She wasn't overly worried about getting lost, she knew she could survive off the land, but she'd prefer it if she could get to the next town.

Walking a little farther she came across a small run down shack. Inspecting it a little closer revealed a familiar looking sign. She stared at it for a while trying to think of where she had seen it before. The indigo color seemed out of place on the run down building.

Eventually, she realized it was the Sign of Zahhak.


End file.
